SpagvemberFest!

Simon Prescott is the guy. Some lines he sounds pretty close, others he’s way off.

Clint is terrible … how can he not sound like himself!? … he appears to be using a regional accent (slightly Southern) which was never present in the original.

I expect the dubbing people had the two elderly stars for a couple of hours and had to make do with what they captured. Who’s going tell Clint, ‘That’s shit, do it again!’ ?

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Afraid I wasn’t convinced at all - LVC was so unique in his delivery, and sounds to me like he spits the lines out.
As a kid I tried impersonating him, by repeating the line “Not even the bank of San Francisco is that well protected” … bet you can all hear that in your minds ? :laughing:

I also learned to do the Klaus Kinski facial tic … which was great once I got it, but it then started for real when I was anxious. :wink:

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He literally resorted to a stereotypical textbook impression of himself :disappointed:

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No Spaghvember without Giuliano, so my diet was signed Gemma last week

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Arizona Colt (1966, Michele Lupo)

***½

Probably the Gemma western that I have watched most often. Longer than most spaghs and never boring, but it cannot be denied that it has a few shortcomings: the romantic subplot doesn’t work at all (and Marchand looks ridiculous with that coiffure) and this shootout in the town street could’ve been a lot better. The movie’s coda (the final after the final so to speak), with Gemma and Sancho stalking each other, is quite nice, a bizarre blend of western and horror

California (1977, Michele Lupo)

***

Gemma and Lupo reunited, eleven years after Arizona Colt, for a movie that is almost the direct counter part of the first one: Arizona is playful, whimsical, California is solemn, down-to-earth. I still think this is the best of the Twilight Spaghs along with Keoma, but an atmospheric, well-directed first half is followed by a more traditional and predictable second. The finale has a nice trick with a bottle though.

One Silver Dollar (1965)

***½

Gemma’s breakthrough movie in Italy. It was more successful at the box-office than the two Ringo movies. A bit naïve in spots but it’s easy to see why it made such an impact in a society that was still looking for itself after WWII and its aftermath. Overall it’s a quite sentimental film, but the violent fistfights and sudden shootouts must have impressed international audiences: it was one of the first Italian westerns that was successful abroad. And what a lovely Rotoscope credit sequence

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Among the Spanish early adopters of American B-Western filmmaking were not only the Ro-Ma bros but also the Balcázar brothers, Alfonso (1926–1993), Francisco, and Jaime Jesús (born 1934). Alfonso and J. J. both worked as directors, Francisco was a producer. The first Balcázar Western, the Alfonso-directed Pistoleros de Arizona (censura: December 30, 1 BL), keeps what its commonplace title promises: it tells the banal story of some courageous individuals’ fight against a corrupt land baron and his henchmen. On the other hand, it is a technically well-made film and features a good cast: fan-favorite Robert Woods in his first Western role, omnipresent Fernando Sancho as a bumbling but not-yet-so-brutish saddle tramp, and Berlin-born actress Maria Sebaldt in her only Western role.

To all appearances, Sebaldt, who had played such iconic characters as Virginia Peng, the queen-pin of crime, in Hans Quest’s comic book adaptation Nick Knattertons Abenteuer. Der Raub der Gloria Nylon (1959), ruthless wrestler Anni Prasuhn in Erich Engels’s Grabenplatz 17 (1958) and Charley’s aunt in Charleys Tante (Géza von Cziffra, 1963), did not wish to repeat her Spanish Western adventure.

Alfonso’s Pistoleros de Arizona and Jaime Jesús’s Oklahoma John passed the Italian censura on the same day, December 30, 1 BL; but O. J. was released a little later, in March 1 AL. Both follow the same formula: German, Italian and Spanish production money, American leading man, German leading lady, rest of cast mostly Spanish actors, traditional B-Western plot. In Oklahoma John, a brave sheriff takes drastic measures to rid his town of its corrupt ruling elite. Yes, hypnagogic.

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A little dull, but historically important … film wise. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Day 25

Quintana (Musolino /1969)

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I like Musolino as a director. Wonky Batman villain lair angles and all. It is obvious this one had bugger all budget but he always tries to make it look interesting no matter what. Quintana is kind of cliched in many ways but I just like the honesty of it. There were plenty of directors working with more who turned out less.

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Day 26

7 Pistols for a Massacre (Caiano / 1967)

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Maybe because it’s title is so generic, I don’t know, but it turns out I had never actually seen this one before even though I assumed I had. Caiano was a pretty “by the numbers” director and this is a very “by the numbers” kind of spag but it had enough for me to enjoy so will have to look out for a decent copy to add to the collection. Another one I watched via Amazon Prime as work imposed itself on my Spagvember routine. A couple of doble bills today and tomorrow will get me back on track.

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Day 27

You’re Jinxed Friend, You’ve Met Sacramento (Cristallini / 1972)

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Largely tedious and overlong excuse for a western. Recorded this off Movies4Men about a year ago and it has been sitting on the set-top box ever since. Spagvember has given me the impetus to finally watch the damn thing and delete it. The deleting part was the most satisfying.

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DAY 29

Well. My penultimate movie for Spagvember is Kill Django… Kill First (Garrone, 1971), a movie so wonderful that, according to Scherp’s review, director Sergio Garrone has no recollection of it. Sounds promising, eh?

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Day 28

Django Kills Silently (Pupillo / 1967)

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No classic but an entertaining enough lower tier spag. Eastman fits the lead well and you get Rossi channeling Kinski and Rick Boyd going full tilt scenery chewing so plenty to enjoy in that department. Some missed opportunities along the way but all in all a fun ride without particularly impressing.

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Spagvember#29 Rossetti: The Dirty Outlaws
-Another which I had not seen for a long time and didn’t have much memories about. Solidly directed and cool looking film with all the mud and ghost town setting. It’s just seems to be missing something… more memorable villain could have helped maybe. 6/10

One more (to Hell) and it’s a wrap for this year’s spaghvember. Now, which one to choose? :thinking:

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  1. No Graves on Boot Hill
    Release Date: 23.11.1968

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Yesterday’s film a Garrone, Not his best, but at least three good things here: Ida Galli as the most blue-eyed Mexican girl you’ll ever see, the ending, and the third I forgot. 5/10. (But some people here will easily rise that.)

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  1. Kill Them All and Come Back Alone
    Release Date: 31.12.1968

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And tonight a Castellari. So, this film was released in Italy on New Year’s Eve. And, sure enough, some fireworks here. According to the film’s page there should be two songs by Raoul in it, but I noticed only one. Boring action stuff. 4/10

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DAY 30
What? It’s… over? Already?? Yup, we’re packing Spagvember away for another year and, following a few tough watches, I’ve elected to go out with a guaranteed winner: The almighty Django (Corbucci, 1966). It’s the first spag I ever saw outside of the Dollars trilogy, the only spag I ever owned on VHS outside of the Dollars trilogy, I loved it before I even knew what a “spaghetti western” was and, indeed, it likely kickstarted my interest in the wider genre in the first place. Doesn’t actually make my own personal spag top twenty anymore but it always scores heavy on the nostalgia front for me. This SpagvemberFest has felt like a bit of a slog - certainly over the second half of the month - but Django is the sort of film which’ll have me regretting that it’s all over and have me reaching over the next few days for the titles which didn’t make the cut.

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Spagvember#30 Carnimeo: The Crazy Bunch
-I finished spaghvemberfest this morning with a personal favorite. This film is just over-the-top madness, totally bonkers, it’s stupid and infantile and I love it. 7/10

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After the unexpected commercial success of Alfonso Balcázar’s Pistoleros de Arizona – Kevin Grant writes that P. d. A. was “highly profitable” and that the film “earned more than any western apart from A Fistful of Dollars and […] Two Gangsters in the Wild West at the Italian box office in 1964” (A. G. C. P., pp. 61–62), which is highly unlikely since it passed the Italian censura on December 30, 1964 – the Balcázar brothers were really cranking it out: Oklahoma John was followed by Tierra de fuego (directed by Mark Stevens and/or Jaime Jesús, who is credited as director in the Spanish version, maybe for “administrative reasons”), a Spanish-German co-production, and Alfonso’s ¡Viva Carrancho!, a Spanish-Italian co-production, both released in October 1 AL. Tierra de Fuego is an undistinguished film, maybe only notable for Marianne Koch’s tragic role, in her fourth Western, a year after Per un pugno di dollari. It tells of four prairie-punks who terrorize a small town until the initially reluctant local sheriff takes action against them; an uninspired story, culminating in a violent climax.

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Summary of my SpagvemberFest 2018

  1. Lenzi: A Pistol for Hundred Coffins 5/10
  2. Garrone: No Graves on Boot Hill 5/10
  3. Caiano: A Coffin for the Sheriff 6/10
  4. Castellari: Keoma 10/10
  5. Girolami: Reverend Colt 4/10
  6. Baldi: Django Get the Coffin Ready 7/10
  7. Civirani: Son of Django 3/10
  8. Florio: Dead Men Ride 8/10
  9. Baldi: Comin’at ya! 4/10
  10. Margheriti: And God Said to Cain 7/10
  11. Ippolito: Arrapaho 2/10
  12. Ricci: Kid, Terror of the West 1/10
  13. Zurli: Man Called Amen 5/10
  14. Musolino: Quintana 6/10
  15. Corbucci: The Hellbenders 7/10
  16. Leone: A Fistful of Dollars 9/10
  17. Barboni: They Call me Trinity 7/10
  18. Savona: Apocalypse Joe 6/10
  19. Esteba & Mollica: 20 Paces to Death 4/10
  20. Capuano: The Magnificent Texan 5/10
  21. Simonelli: Two Mafiamen in the Far West 2/10
  22. Mulargia: W Django! 5/10
  23. Bianchini: I Want Him Dead 5/10
  24. Corbucci: Sonny & Jed 8/10
  25. Fidani: And Now Make Peace With God! 4/10
  26. Vari: A Hole in the Forehead 6/10
  27. Castellari: Kill Them All And Come Back Alone 6/10
  28. Sollima: The Big Gundown 9/10
  29. Rossetti: The Dirty Outlaws 6/10
  30. Carnimeo: Crazy Bunch 7/10

I didn’t have any theme this year, I just mostly watched films I had not seen for a long time but picked also few I had not seen before and some classics to make it all more bearable.

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I had to check my own review to figure out what particular movie you were referring to. Now I remember. I wonder what you will make of that guy living in a grotto. Of all weird killers in spaghs, this is one of the weirdest ideas ever